Yuck. A McDonald's worker in South Carolina has been arrested after surveillance video allegedly caught him spitting into cups of iced tea that had been returned by the customers because they weren't sweet enough. Meanwhile, the operator of the Simpsonville, S.C., fast-food franchise where the incident reportedly took place is asking the public to withhold judgment about his restaurant. “Nothing is more important to me than the safety and well-being of my customers," the franchise operator, John Kennedy, said in a statement released to The Times.

The restaurant industry is quietly — and successfully — fighting back against the enactment of so-called Happy Meal bans, which forbid restaurants like McDonald's to hand out toys with children's meals that are high in calories. Moving under the radar so stealthily that in some cases local politicians and anti-obesity activists missed it entirely, lobbyists in Florida and Arizona backed successful efforts to take away the power to enact such bans from cities and counties. In Nebraska, a proposed statewide Happy Meal ban died in February, even before its first legislative committee hearing.

McDonald's Corp. said Tuesday that it would increase the price of its $1 double cheeseburger to $1.19 in December to cover rising costs, ending the sandwich's run as the top-selling item on the 6-year-old dollar menu. The world's biggest restaurant company will also replace the double cheeseburger with the McDouble. The new sandwich consists of two beef patties and a single slice of cheese, or one slice less than the double, the company said.

J.R. Simplot, whose lifetime fascination with the potato helped change the nation's eating habits and made him a billionaire, died Sunday. He was 99. Simplot, who in his prime drove around Idaho in a Lincoln Continental with the license plate "Mr. Spud," died at his Boise home, apparently of natural causes, according to the Ada County coroner's office. The son of a farmer, Simplot began building his fortune while barely a teenager, finding new ways to bring potatoes and other vegetables to market.

After a year of disappointing results in its U.S. division, Yum Brands Inc. is planning to copy one of its biggest rivals in the fast-food industry. At a meeting with investors and analysts, Yum Chief Executive David Novak said the chain would introduce new products, including beverages and breakfast meals, expand its value menus and offer healthier options at its main U.S. chains, KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Novak said the U.S.

A City Council committee Tuesday recommended passage of a temporary ban on new fast-food restaurants in South Los Angeles. The moratorium would last for at least a year while city officials devise a permanent policy to lure other restaurants to the area. "I don't think we can ever legislate what people eat," said Marie Rumsey, a legislative aide to Councilwoman Jan Perry. "We can put policies in place to give people more choices because more choices can mean healthy eating."

SACRAMENTO -- Fast-food restaurants may still fry food in artificial fats, but they'll have to tell customers about it under measures dispatched by the California Legislature in a final 17-hour day. The food bills were among hundreds that lawmakers handled before ending their regular session after 3 a.m. Wednesday. Legislators sent to the governor bills to raise car registration fees by $3, ban smoking in cars carrying children and put the source of water on bottled-water labels. Gov.

Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz said Monday that he might pay as much as $3.6 billion for Wendy's International Inc. In a letter to Wendy's Chairman James V. Pickett, Peltz said his Trian Fund Management would consider paying as much as $41 a share for the chain of hamburger restaurants, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Peltz gave Wendy's until Wednesday to sign a confidentiality agreement. The filing came after the markets closed.

Wendy's International Inc., which underwent jarring structural changes in the last 12 months, announced Wednesday that more might be in the offing -- including the possible sale of the company. Its shares rose 13% in after-hours trading to $37. The nation's No. 3 hamburger chain, based in Dublin, Ohio, said it had formed a committee of directors to review options that could include a sale, a merger or some other business combination.

Carpinteria-based CKE Restaurants Inc., owner of the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's hamburger chains, will buy back 6.1% of its shares from hedge fund Pirate Capital, its biggest investor. The buyback of 4.07 million shares will cost $77.3 million, based on Monday's closing stock price of $18.97. Shares closed Tuesday at $19. Pirate Capital will no longer own a stake in the company after the sale, CKE said in a statement.